(TRENTON) – Legislation Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo sponsored to
better protect the state’s Unemployment Insurance Fund from fraud and ensure
it’s used only by those it was created to assist - unemployed New Jerseyans –
was advanced Monday by an Assembly panel.
“Out-of-work New Jerseyans deserve this help, and every taxpayer
deserves to know the benefits system they pay into is protected as best as
possible from fraud that, in the end, only costs everyone more money,” said
DeAngelo (D-Mercer/Middlesex). “The unemployment fund exists to help New
Jerseyans get back on their feet as they find work, and it should be protected
for their use and their use only. With these few basic steps, we can better
ensure that happens.”
DeAngelo based the bills off a report from the Office of the
State Auditor, which looked at the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development’s Unemployment Insurance Services program for the period of July 1,
2009 through June 30, 2011. The audit focused on benefit payments and uncovered
various ways the system that could be improved or updated to improve the
collection of data and provide a more timely verification of wages earned and
beneficiary’s status
The bills:
·
Shortens the time period in which employers are required to
file reports on wages earned by their employees from a quarterly report to a
monthly report (A-3810);
·
Requires the Department of the Treasury to collect for
overpayment of UI benefits (A-3811); and
·
Requires officials to make death and incarceration
notifications to eliminate fraud in the UI system
(A-3812).
“These are common sense steps that would help unemployed
residents and give taxpayers more confidence their money in being protected,”
DeAngelo said. “Preventing fraud can go a long way toward ensuring a better
system, and that’s something residents and businesses – everyone for that matter
– can support.”
The first bill (A-3810) shortens the time period in which
employers are required to file reports on wages earned by their employees from a
quarterly report to a monthly report.
This would provide a timely reporting of wages to the Department
of Labor and Workforce Development to assist the department in identifying
individuals who may be collecting benefits for which they are not
eligible.
The audit detailed the estimated time lag of wage reporting by
employers of as much as four months. Employers must report the wages earned by
the employee on a quarterly form required to be submitted by the employer within
30 days of the end of the calendar quarter. Therefore, wages earned in the first
quarter may not be reported to the department until April 30.
“If an individual is collecting unemployment benefits, but
becomes employed at some point in the quarter and does not voluntarily notify
the department, it would not be aware for up to 30 days after the end of the
quarter,” DeAngelo said. “This would allow the individual to fraudulently
collect unemployment benefits for a maximum of 17 weeks. That’s
unacceptable.”
The second bill (A-3811) would require the Department of Labor
and Workforce Development to file a notice of debt with the Department of the
Treasury upon the failure of an individual debtor to pay a debt incurred due to
overpayment of unemployment benefits.
Under the bill, the Department of the Treasury must issue a
certificate of debt and pursue the collection of the debt from the individual.
The bill provides that the Department of the Treasury may file an application
with the Office of Administrative Law for wage garnishment of an individual who
has failed to reimburse the department for an overpayment of UI benefits within
60 days of the date that all appeals for that payment have been exhausted.
The amount of garnishment is determined by the department and
may not exceed 25 percent of the debtor’s gross earnings, provided that after
the garnishment, the debtor’s income will not be less than 250 percent of the
poverty level for the individual, taking into account the size of the
individual’s family.
The third bill (A-3812) aims to eliminate fraud in the UI
system.
Under the bill, the state registrar is directed to facilitate
the electronic notification, upon completion of the death record and issuance of
a burial permit, of a decedent’s name, Social Security number and last known
address to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Additionally, the Department of Corrections is required to
provide the Department of Labor and Workforce Development with the name and
Social Security number of each inmate at the time of incarceration.
“The department would be instructed to establish a system to
cross-check the death records and the list of inmates with files of individuals
who are receiving unemployment insurance or temporary disability insurance
benefits,” DeAngelo said. “The cross check will act as a safeguard for these
public benefit programs and diminish the chance of false payments of
unemployment and disability benefits.”
The bills were released by the Assembly Budget
Committee.
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